Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Students and Activists Declare Their Commitment to Struggle for a Free Cuba on the 40th Anniversary of the 13 de Marzo

20 years later a look back to a youth gathering at Florida International University on March 13, 1997. Over the next twenty years the Free Cuba Foundation would host and members of the Cuban Democratic Directorate would gather on February 24th to remember the victims of the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown and on July 13th to remember the victims of the "13 de marzo" tugboat massacre at Florida International University in a nonviolent call to justice.

Ana
Carbonell of Alliance of Young Cubans recalls student activism

On March 13, 1997 at Florida International University student
activists who have been fighting for the cause of Cuba's freedom
since 1968 came together to declare once again their commitment
for a free Cuba. Members of Abdala, Cuban Committee for Human
Rights, Directorio Revolucionario Democratico Cubano, Generation 90,
and the FREE CUBA Foundation spoke of their experiences through
the years and addressed current problems.

The event began with Janisset Rivero of the Directrorio
Revolucionario Democratico Cubano introducing an 11 minute video
produced by Dr. Juan Clark which described the rafter crisis and the
events leading up to the shootdown of the two Brothers to the Rescue
planes on February 24, 1996 between 3:20 and 3:28pm. Mario De La
Peña was a member of the Directorio Revolucionario Democratico
Cubano, and Armando Alejandre Jr was an FIU alumnus.

John Suarez of the FREE CUBA Foundation introduced the speakers
and explained the purpose of this event. According to Mr. Suarez,
"March 13, 1957, July 13, 1994, and February 24, 1996 are three
tragic dates in Cuban history tied together for two reasons: on all
three dates youth were brutally murdered, and each date, in a cause
and effect fashion, leads to the next. The massacre of Cuba's young
democratic leadership on March 13 opened a vacuum filled by Fidel
Castro. Fidel Castro made Cuba a living hell which has driven
millions of Cubans to leave the island, and the regime has sought
with violence to stop this flight to freedom. The July 13 massacre of
men, women and children aboard the 13 de Marzo tugboat is just
another barbaric example. The outrage of the July 13 massacre
touched the Cuban nation profoundly. It led to the overflights of
Havana one year later on July 13, 1995 which so outraged the Castro
regime that they shot down the planes over international waters on
February 24, 1996. This is why the 40th anniversary of the Assault
on the Presidential Palace on March 13, 1957 should be a time to
reflect on what is happened, and what is left to be done."

Lorenzo De Toro III of G-90 spoke of the internal opposition and
their need for support from the exile. Citing the examples of the
dissidents in Poland and Czechoslovakia he predicted that the future
leaders of Cuba are in Cuba and need our active support. De Toro
played a recording of support for this reunion by one of the internal
opposition groups.

Sebastian Arcos Cazabon of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights
spoke of the present plight of the political prisoners and their
families inside of Cuba. He called on the community to support the
families of these political prisoners. When you are arrested for
opposing the regime you go to prison, your relatives are blackballed,
and your immediate family is unemployable. Without outside
assistance there is no internal opposition.

Juan Jose De Castro of the DRDC made the argument for the necessity
of using non-violence as a tool to struggle against the Castro tyranny.
He observed that the opposition to Castro does not have an army, and
therefore making a war is impossible. Furthermore, that one of our
main flaws as Cubans has been our embracing of a culture of
violence.

Ana M. Carbonell of the Alliance of Young Cubans spoke of their
battle to raise awareness in Canada. The Alliance had raised funds
and bought billboards which read: Your Paradise...Their Hell. The
billboards contrast the tourists paradise with the Hell the Cuban
people are suffering under an oppressive tyranny.

Pedro Solares of Abdala spoke of the necessity to integrate the
current generation into the struggle against tyranny and injustice.
He spoke of the days when many believed that socialism was the
future, and how Abdala stood up to this tide of popular belief, and
said No! He spoke of chaining themselves to the Statue of Liberty
and shutting it down when Pedro Luis Boitel, a student leader, died
on hunger strike in a Cuban dungeon.

At the end of the presentations, and the questions and answers that
followed a declaration was signed by the various organizations. The
FIU Declaration declared it support for the principles set out by
Concilio Cubano, and pledges to support the leadership of the internal
opposition, increase awareness of the plight of the political prisoners,
embrace the principle of non-violent resistance, and call on the exile
community to educate the present generation on the ongoing tragedy
in Cuba.

The event ended with Janisset Rivero reading a list of the fallen
brothers from the 13 de Marzo, and February 24 massacres. After
each name the audience cried out "Presente." The last four names
read out were: Armando Alejandre Jr. , Carlos Costa, Mario De La
Peña, and Pablo Morales. After each of their names was read the
audience cried out the loudest "Presentes" of the evening.

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The Free Cuba Foundation is an action oriented youth movement committed to defending human rights, support the Cuban internal democratic opposition, and advocate for the principles of Gandhian non-violence.